


In The Dark Of Night

by ElisaPhoenix



Series: Supreme Family Chaos [109]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Harley Keener Needs a Hug, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Other, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:47:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23749393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElisaPhoenix/pseuds/ElisaPhoenix
Summary: Harley pays a visit to Rose Hill on the anniversary of his mother and sister's deaths.
Relationships: Harley Keener & Billy Kaplan
Series: Supreme Family Chaos [109]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1364899
Comments: 8
Kudos: 190





	In The Dark Of Night

Even after six years, his house remained standing in charred ruins. By the time anyone may have bothered to tear down the remaining skeletons of his past, the snap happened, so no one cared enough to do it. Harley had...mixed feelings about it. The house he grew up in had been untouched since the fire, but it was a painful reminder of what he lost and how. He was in Rose Hill on the anniversary of his mother and sister's deaths, and decided to swing by what he thought would be a rebuilt home where his had been. It had been both a relief and also heartbreaking to see it was just as he left it when he called Tony.

The closer this day got, the more he lashed out at the family he had now. He didn't mean to. It was just a painful memory that he wanted to get past. He loved his family. He had a father that would do anything for him and his siblings and wasn't a deadbeat. He had a 'mother', and although he was a man, Stephen stepped into the role easily and did everything a mother would do and then some. Harley never looked at Stephen as a second father. He was mom...from day one, but at the time he just didn't know it. He resisted and even gave the sorcerer the cold shoulder, but Stephen just looked at him in sympathy and spoke to him as if Harley wasn't foaming at the mouth whenever he tried to get close. He would always pat him on the head or the shoulder, make sure he was doing okay and eating, and only then give him his personal space.

When Stephen got shot protecting him and Peter, that was when Harley realized he almost lost a second mother. When he realized that Stephen viewed him as his child as well as Tony's and was willing to die to keep him safe. The teen decided then to stop resisting what the doctor so freely offered and it helped with a lot of the emotional pain. To know he was loved and wanted by both Tony and Stephen.

Harley loved his siblings. Peter, Diana...Val. Peter was his best friend first before he was his brother, and it was amazing how in such a short time, the younger teen had gone from glaring daggers at him to laughing with him over a controlled explosion in the lab. Dia had been a little too soon after his loss but he didn't lash out at her. It took time for him to warm up to her, but when he finally got used to having a sister again, the Snap happened. One moment she was just a few months old, the next she was five years old. He kind of understood how Stephen felt. He and Peter missed out on watching their sister grow up like Stephen had missed raising his only daughter. But he loved that she was old enough to play with. That she was open to rough housing with him even if she did cheat with magic.

Valerie really was the new start they all needed. She was in no way a replacement for Diana, and thankfully she never saw it that way. She was happy to have a little sister. Happy to have her brothers and mother back. She never got jealous because Stephen made absolutely sure that he gave her just as much attention as he gave Valerie. She really hung out with Cassie too much to get jealous anyway. Those two were attached at the hip and Cassie had been a big part of raising Diana, even if it was as her big sister.

That was an entirely new ballgame. Cassie. Peter had stars in his eyes the second he looked at her after the war with Thanos, and after some awkward fumbling on Peter's part...they started dating. They tried to hide it but that failed spectacularly because his brother was awful with secrets. It was a miracle that no one knew he was Spiderman yet.

Harley got jealous little by little when he saw Peter and Cassie together. Not just them either. His parents, Quill and Scott, Steve and Bucky...hell...even Bruce and Thor had their disgustingly sweet moments. He saw it all and he wanted it too. He was the bully though. Well, not so much that he sought out other kids to pick on, but more like he stood up for himself and Peter. He wasn't afraid to throw a punch. Being the bully wasn't exactly appealing to others.

Then, Cassie told Stephen about the twins. His mother took them in in a heartbeat, and Harley prayed that his parents wouldn't adopt them because William had garnered his attention the second he saw him. Harley eventually figured it was wishful thinking though because William was shy. He may be used to dealing with Thomas, but having to handle Harley would be too much to ask. He came to the conclusion that he may very well be alone for the rest of his life and he came to accept that. He could live with keeping an eye on his family.

With a sigh, Harley turns away from the blackened remains of his old home and walks to the small town's graveyard where he knew he would find his mother and sister's graves. Tony had paid for everything without batting an eye and when today finally came, Stephen opened a portal for him without a word. When he was ready to go home, all he had to do was text his mother and another portal would open for him. For now, he stood in front of the graves after placing flowers he had bought with his own money on each of them. He stood and stared until his focus directed into his mind where he tried to remember the happy memories he had of them. There were plenty with his sister, fewer with his mom since she had worked hard to support them...but they were there.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but it must have been longer than his parents had expected because he heard a portal opening in the distance. The creaking of the gates to the graveyard followed shortly after, but the footsteps that approached were too light to be Stephen's.

"Harley?"

Harley froze. That definitely wasn't Stephen. It was William. He rubs at his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket before turning to look at the younger teen with genuine curiosity.

"What are you doing here?" William flinches at the tone that unintentionally came out of Harley's mouth and the elder sighs. "Sorry...I didn't mean it like that. I just expected Mom. Not you."  
"It's...it's been a while. I was starting to worry." William replies quietly. "I can go--"  
"No...uh...it's okay. You can stay if you don't mind waiting a little while longer." Harley says and thanks whatever entity is listening that night had fallen and his blush was hidden by the dark.  
"I don't mind. Oh!" With a shy smile, he conjures a thermos seemingly out of thin air and holds it out to Harley. "Mom sent this with me for you. It's past dinner time and he knows it's cold."

Harley takes the thermos with a quiet thanks and opens it to release the mouth watering smell of tomato soup. Something he loved eating when it was cold and he was out and about like this.

"Mom or Cassie?" He questions and William shrugs.  
"A little of both. They both made dinner."  
"Since when do you call him Mom anyway?"  
The younger's smile falters just a bit but it comes back a little softer as he moves closer to Harley to stand next to him. "Since I realized he and...Dad...are nothing like the foster families we had before. That we're here to stay."  
Harley snorts in amusement. "You two will be the ones wanting to leave if anything." He pauses and glances over at William. "You don't want to, do you?"  
"No. I'm happy with you guys. You're all a family and I actually feel like part of it."  
"Your brother?"  
"Him too...but I have a feeling he's just like you. Afraid to say how he really feels. He's still a little suspicious, but he's letting himself relax."

Harley holds back his urge to sputter because William was _paying attention to his quirks_. He instead grumbles and removes his gloves to hand to the younger when he starts exhaling into them to warm them up. William looks at him in surprise and before he can reject the offer, Harley holds up the thermos to show that he would be fine with it warming his hands. The younger smiles softly as he takes the gloves and puts them on, and they stand there quietly for another half hour. When the soup was gone, and Harley spent enough time at the graves, he pulled out his phone and texted Stephen as he headed toward the gates of the graveyard.

"Come on. Let's get home before we wake the dead." Harley jokes, and he narrows his eyes when William suddenly moves closer to him.  
"Does that really happen?"  
"What? Maybe? I don't know. Mom's a sorcerer so I believe anything at this point. Are you afraid of ghosts?"  
"...ghosts are creepy." William says with a pout.  
"You use magic too! You could probably banish them before they even got close!"  
"What if they're deformed and--don't laugh!"

Harley couldn't help it. He never expected William to be afraid of ghosts and it was hilarious as well as adorable so he couldn't stop himself from bursting into laughter.

"We better get out of here then. The zombies wake at midnight and it's a couple minutes til."  
" _Zombies?!_ " William glares at him with another pout when he realizes Harley's joking (half joking, it could very well be true for all they knew) before hitting his shoulder. "Jerk!"

Maybe there was a chance after all.


End file.
